Seeking Shelter from the Rain
by Blackfire 18
Summary: Another attempt at a robbery is dashed as Kim Possible saves the day once again...and what's worse, it has begun to rain. Features Drakken and Shego...mainly.


**Seeking Shelter from the Rain**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kim Possible or any of the characters there within.**

A vicious uppercut caught the unsuspecting red-head by surprise. The blow sent her sprawling on the ground, but she quickly recovered herself. Massaging a stinging jaw, she glared at the woman opposite her. Clad in striking green and black and smiling wickedly stood the red-haired girl's attacker and long-time adversary.

The woman grinned.

"What's the matter Kimmie, didn't see me coming?"

Kim Possible smiled ruefully at the haphazard comment.

"Down to stealing gaudy jewelry for your sorry wardrobe now, Shego?"

The woman sneered. "Not my crowning moment, but Drakken assured me this plan is a gem."

Shego struck out again, hands afire and raven-hair flying, a roundhouse kick aimed for Kim's head; but this time the teen was ready. Kim blocked the blow and immediately countered with on of her own. She succeeded in the thrust and Shego went down, but the raven-haired woman used the new leverage to lash out at the redhead's legs. Possible jumped to avoid it but Shego anticipated the move and struck the girl's bare midriff with her fist while Kim was in the air. The teen stumbled back, hugging her bleeding stomach in agony. She bit her lower lip fiercely to forestall the shock of tears. Kim rallied herself in time to viciously kick Shego's descending fist with her heel. Shego cried out in pain and backed away, holding the offended hand in her other. The two girls glared at one another, temporarily incapacitated and huffing in fatigue.

Shego was the first to recoup.

"Look who's playing for keeps." She hissed.

Kim only glared at her. Shego chuckled softly as she flexed her sore hand, albeit, it still stung something fierce. The earthly fragrance of rain aroused her senses and a threatening rumble in the near distance warned of an imminent storm. Shego enjoyed thunderstorms but she didn't particularly like being _in_ them.

Kim still nursed her injury on one knee. Apparently, the violent blow the villain had dealt was serious. Shego smiled down at the girl.

"I guess that's what they call a diamond in the rough." Shego flashed the blood-spackled gem wedged between her knuckles. She deftly spun the jewel in her fingers, flaunting its beauty as well as her obvious thievery prowess. Her hand still stung, but no emotion but triumph lit the villainess' face. Kim, still huffing, did not answer the raven-haired woman.

"You lose, Kimmie."

Shego tossed the pendent and confidently caught it in her fist, smirking at the girl all the while and turned to leave.

"Not quite." Kim replied, an edge to her voice. She leveled a weapon at Shego's hand and pulled the trigger. With a hiss and swift reeling sound, a little clawed device deployed on a wire, snapped brutally at Shego's hand—her already injured hand.

The woman shrieked in pain and dropped the pendant. It was all the time Kim needed. She sprang forward, tucking into a roll and catching up the stolen trinket, then she was on her feet and running, legs stretching to their greatest length to put distance between herself and the green and black clad villainess. Shego howled in rage after her, but the teen did not slow, nor even give so much as a glance back in her flight.

Shego now stood alone in the alleyway, massaging a severely injured right hand and muttering curses under her breath. It felt broken. And to make matters worse, it had begun to rain. The light April shower quickly rent open and it poured. Shego soon found herself soaked through.

Damn! She had failed again to that annoying little upstart; failed another mission for world conquest; failed herself. A recent string of such interceptions had plagued the villain; she feared she was beginning to lose her touch.

The crushing impact of failure diminished her of her wicked pleasure, leaving her filled only with her quick anger and drowning defeat.

Shego shut her eyes to the world as the rain fell, cold and heavy; adding to her melancholy state of mind. Water sluiced through her dark hair, matting it to her head; it slipped down her face and trickled down her back. A prickling chill climbed her spine.

The pounding on her skull seemed only to amplify the pounding in her head.

Why was it she could not seem ever to defeat that blasted girl? She was older, smarter, experienced; she had all of the potential to take down any who stood in her way, except the heroic teen who constantly seemed to best her. Even when she cheated. Where the teen seemed barely able to defeat the woman, Shego would always stumble at the finish line.

Shego managed to place in second once again; left only with open, and very possibly broken, empty hands.

The pounding in her skull suddenly stopped. Startled from her sulking, Shego glanced up to see an outcropping of a black that the rain rolled off of in rivulets.

An umbrella?

Shego turned her gaze to the umbrella's holder to encounter a man with a troubled knit in his brow watching her. His concern annoyed her.

She turned from him, her left hand shut in a tight fist. The right throbbed. The hum of the hovercraft stationed above them could just be heard over the rain.

"Kim Possible got the pendant," Shego said angrily, her voice shaking. "I…"

_Have failed you again._

Shego could not say the words. She didn't want to. Drakken shook his head.

"I saw what happened."

Shego turned her head enough to put Drakken in her peripheral vision.

"Let me see it," he said softly, stretching forward his hand to clasp one of hers. She recoiled sharply at his touch with a cry and Drakken dropped the umbrella in surprise. The shock of the cold water down his back gave him goose bumps even within his clothes, although the dark-haired beauty haloed in the rain may have been suffice to the chills as well.

Shego massaged her hand, her teeth clenched and a furrow of pain and anger creased her brow. Realizing Shego had been badly hurt in the exchange, he moved closer to her, but she briefly glanced at his advance and retreated a step.

"I'm fine." She stated half-heartedly, though her piercing anger rang true in her voice. Drakken ignored the outburst and her tone and came forward. Shego glared at him with piercing green eyes, back slightly hunched over her injured hand, body language pointing to signs of a cornered animal, injured but still ready to fight.

"Let me see," Drakken insisted, reaching for her hand with both of his.

"I'm fine!" she insisted but did not resist when he grasped her hand in his. Drakken had removed his gloves and stuffed them into a side pocket quickly, carefully collecting Shego's hand. He made to remove her glove and she sucked in a breath through her teeth softly. Her hand could painfully feel every pulse of blood. An ugly purple-black splotch blossomed on the back of her hand; a dark rose tattoo of the encounter.

Drakken hold was surprisingly gentle, Shego noted numbly, as Drakken tenderly probed and felt Shego's hand for broken bones and damaged tissue.

"Ooh," Drakken commented softly. "This part here is going to be sore for awhile." He spoke as he lightly ran his thumb over the large bruise. Shego said nothing. "Nothing an icepack and spa care won't fix."

He smiled at her, but she did not meet his gaze, her eyes glazed. Drakken's smile fell away and he sighed tiredly.

"That Kim Possible. She and all of her gadgets constantly getting in the way of my best plans. She's a cheating cheerleader. A cheater!"

Rain continued to fall on the both of them and still Drakken had not released Shego's hand. The raven-haired woman turned her eyes to the hold, wondering how long he intended to hold her "captive", though a mix of emotions ran through her. His hand was warm; there was a tenderness in the stroke of his thumb…wait, what was she thinking?

She angrily batted the idea from her mind. The doctor continued, not having noticed the look of scrutiny the woman was giving their hand hold.

"If that little brat didn't have her toys, you would be able to take her down in three moves! The fight is dreadfully unfair."

Shego's anger returned with a force as she snatched her hand from his.

"It's fair enough!" she snapped and strode away from him into the impending darkness.

"Oh now Shego, don't go storming off like that." Drakken half-heartedly laughed at his poorly crafted pun which served only to fuel the woman's rage further.

"Shego!" he called after her and the tone of his voice caused Shego to falter in her step.

She slowly turned back to face him. Her eyes assessed a poor, lonely man standing drenched in the rain. A man who had accepted constant failure, a man who had refused to let setbacks outpace him, a man who had wordlessly sheltered her with an umbrella. And there he stood in the rain, a sopping wretch bourn by uncertainty. It was a miserable sight, but she must not have looked much better.

She sighed and shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest; feigning impatience and doubling for her own warmth, though the severity of her expression had faded, betraying her inner turmoil.

"Doc…" she began softly when a flash of light filled the area and momentarily blinded her. Shego blinked several times. "What, did you just take my picture, Doc?" she asked sarcastically, but Drakken too blinked in confusion.

Realization dawned on her and her suspicions were confirmed as a thunderous boom exploded behind her. With a slight yelp, Shego sprang forward to the Doctor who scrambled for the umbrella.

"Yeah, those conduct electricity!" She caught him by the collar and yanked him toward the rope ladder hanging down from the hovercraft. She leapt up the ladder and snatched it with her injured hand and yelped. Clasping her aching hand with the other, Shego hissed and dropped back to the ground.

Another bright flash filled the alleyway and the resounding thunderclap reverberated through the walls.

With surprising strength, Drakken hauled Shego onto his shoulder and scrambled up the rope. Her mouth dropped open as the concrete fell away.

"Easy there, He-Man." The woman's sarcasm fell flat. The doctor shouldered his assistant into her seat and scrabbled for the controls.

"I-I just want to get back to the lair so your hand can get the—the proper medical attention." He sputtered, stabbing buttons and steering them out of the alley. "We'll complete Operation Prism Power later. There are plenty of diamonds in the sea."

"Sure, doc." Shego slumped back into the seat as Drakken piloted them over the buildings. A tiny smile tugged one corner of her lips at the frazzled doctor. "Thanks," she mumbled just as another boom exploded around them. The pair started and Shego punched the turbo boosters Drakken neglected to use.

"Let's not take our sweet time about it, eh?" Shego tried to say over Drakken's screams as he struggled to steer the rocketing hovercraft. The woman rolled her eyes, heaved an exasperated sigh and shoved her boss out of the way. "My hand is severely injured and I still have to fly us home. Figures."

**Author's Note: Because this is one my most popular fics, I revised it a bit for easy digestion. Short, sweet, and good to eat?**

**Anywho, I hope that you all liked it and will continue to read!**

**Blackfire 18 **


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